Paul McCartney Scores 'Destiny' Video Game

Paul McCartney's credibility with geek culture is set to get a significant bump next month with the release of his score for Destiny, the new game from Bungie and Activision.

Destiny, recently available in open beta mode, is an MMO game described by Halo creators Bungie as a “shared-world shooter” set in a postapocalyptic future that saw humanity explore the solar system before a mysterious event known as “the Collapse” left it on the verge of extinction.

The game has been in the works since at least 2009, but it was only officially announced last year. According to a report in TheNew York Times, McCartney has been working on the game “for the last four years, on and off,” alongside Marty O’Donnell, who created the soundtracks for the Halo series.

This is far from the first time video games have brought in well-known musicians to create soundtracks. Trent Reznor was credited for the score to the 1996 game Quake, and in recent years, artists including Beck and Deadmau5 have written music exclusively for games.

McCartney and O’Donnell have created over an hour’s worth of music for the game, including an as-yet-unnamed theme song. The music was recorded in Abbey Road with an 120-piece orchestra directed by Giles Martin, and produced by U2 and Lady Gaga producer Mark Stent.

Destiny will be released on PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Xbox 360 on Sept. 9.